The Greatest of These
by Atmosa
Summary: Only the greatest power in the universe can stop Atrocitus's assault against the Lanterns.


"Atrocitus."

The whispered word held a resigned terror. A red shadow crept upon the planet's surface, consuming daylight in a bloody sunset. There was a deafening silence as the death ship crept steadily towards the battered remains of the Corps. The faded colors of every known corps tried to remember what they had been through the mire and blood caked on the heroes. Everyone was there – Saintwalker, Kilowag, Hal, even Aya stood and watched, holding her disembodied arm, Razor standing silent guardian behind her. Atmosa looked to her sisters-in-arms and the unspoken decision was made.

"No," whispered Ilana. Her voice was full of sadness, not defiance.

"There is nothing left to us, sister," Atmosa said, determined. "It must be done."

The other colors regarded the women quizzically. "Nothing can be done, don't you know that?" Razor asked, impatiently. He'd always thought of the Purple Lanterns as too sentimental, but how could they not understand that it was over? No amount of willpower could restore even the smallest amount of hope that anyone would survive this final assault. There was no magic, no power that could help them now, and especially not something as silly as love. "Atrocitus…" he whispered again, silently raging, against nothing and everything.

"My friends." Atmosa turned toward the remaining heroes, "Don't despair. You will survive this day." The words were coming harder now, a great sadness fighting to block them. "I've loved all of you."

"What can you possibly do?" Razor asked. "Our lanterns are dead. Atrocitus and his World Destroyer are upon us."

"Love," Atmosa answered.

"Love?" Razor spat. "Love is a sentimental emotion for romantics and children. Its only power is to help make the reality of death and hatred a little more bearable until the end. What can Love do that Hope or Rage or Will cannot? What can Love do in the face of _that_?" He threw a pointed hand toward the deadly ship.

"There is a weapon known only to the Purple Lanterns. It will stop Atrocitus, but it comes with a high price." Atmosa turned back to the women she had lead for so many years. "You all know what is asked of you. I go to face Atrocitus, to Rage and Hate itself. There is no shame in staying behind, but I ask those who would to come with me." As she spoke, the sadness faded, and her words gradually grew stronger, until she seemed to be booming with the Source itself. "On this day, we will show that love, pure, absolute love, is stronger than any other force that would oppose it. We will, my sisters. We, who have laughed and played and sang silly songs and dreamed silly dreams, can save the universe from evil on this day." She stared at her fellow Sapphires and waited. Seven of them came to her side, but Atmosa gently stopped one of them. "Ilana, you must stay here and lead the Sapphires. Your sacrifice must be to live until we can meet again." With that, the seven women silently, slowly walked a few paces from the group.

"Where are they going?" Kilowag sputtered.

Atmosa merely smiled a sad, triumphant smile and said, softly, "Behold."

Razor blinked as sunlight hit his eyes. No, not sunlight, he realized. Light, or something like it, burned in the eyes of the woman standing in front of him. As she backed up, the faded Lanterns had to shield their eyes from the intensity of the stars forming in front of them. Light soon engulf those Violets ready to throw one final assault at Atrocitus. Different kinds of light erupted from the women. Weightless rays flowed around their heads like crowns of burning hair. Solid beams of radiance replaced skin, and rich, multicolored flames appeared where clothes had once been. Great orange and white and violet wings erupted from the shoulders of the beaming guardians as they rose off the ground. They seemed to grow in size as they soared into the black, to face the Destroyer of Worlds. None of the Lanterns could think, let alone notice that their rings, slowly, subtly, as if waking from a long sleep, began to glow. Hal was the first to be able to tear his eyes away from his ascending friends to wonder at what was going on. Suddenly, his ring sung with a beam of strong, green energy that flew out to unite with its sisters in the sky. Saint Walker's blue soon followed, joined by Razor's red, Ilana's violet, and the rest of the Lantern's rings. The colors swirled together until they formed a blinding white beam that both surrounded and eminated from the warriors now in space.

Atrocitus bellowed orders to press the attack – nothing could stop his armada, and the annoying light from these new foes would soon be snuffed out.

The 7 women spread out, lined up like immovable pillars. When the Red Armada's lead ships opened fire on them, they expected the light-creatures to die quickly. Instead, the warriors threw out their arms like radiant blades and sliced through the ships as if the solid metal hulls were made of nothing but paper. Guts of the ships spilled out through cauterized wounds and debris soon clogged the space between the ships. Any of the red lasers fired at the beaming women were swallowed up in the sheer volume of the white light emanating from them. Red Corps ships seemed to disintegrate as the women spread out and swept through the swarm. Like a fired bullet ignores sheets of glass in its way, so too the sisters seemed to ignore any opposition thrown at them. A large juggernaut rushed at one of the women, Dayma and seemed to be swallowed up by her light. Suddenly, Dayma's light-face contorted into pain and silently screamed as her body seemed to turn in on itself before exploding is a brilliant cloud of diamond dust. Any particles that fell on the enemy ships still ate through the metal like acid. The Red Commander, seeing this, ordered his ships to run kamikaze attacks. The remaining sisters sliced through what they could, and exploded when they could no longer. Soon the only remaining pieces in the deadly game were Atrocitus' flag ship and Atmosa's towering, blinding form. Steeling herself, Atmosa charged, every beam in her poised for a final, powerful attack. Atrocitus yelled for his final weapon to be thrown into full attack speed. Those tiny observers on the ground heard a great roar as the two space titans collided. It seemed as though a supernova was birthed as both enemy and hero exploded into more debris and diamonds.

Days passed, and those remaining on the planet rested in front of a fire, sore from the reconstruction work they'd done, and hopefully weary thinking of what remained to do. The Lanterns were still mourning the loss of their great friends, but hope had replaced despair and sadness does not live long when hope survives. Ilana looked around at her friends and answered the silent question that had been looming in all of their minds. She pulled out a worn, leather-bound book. "Our sacred text. Given to us by the Source." Opening to a marked passage, she read, "And so faith, hope, love abide, but the greatest of these is love. No one has greater love than to lay down his own life for his friends. The Source is love." Closing the book, she paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and explained. "The Creator, the Source gave us His own words in this book. The secret of the Star Sapphires is hidden in plain sight. The Source of life is Love. Love at its core is sacrificing your desires, your needs, and your life for those that you are devoted to. True love is more powerful than anything else in Creation because it was out of Love that Creation came to exist. The greatest sacrifice is required for this power to manifest itself through our rings. Atmosa, Dayma, Crestl, Ayere, Gwin, Vaer, and Fae loved all of you enough to pay this price. We must mourn them, but we also will honor their memory by living."

With that, the heroes looked over the remnants of their terror and the source of their new-found hope, at their fallen comrades and enemies, and each was lost in his own thoughts while glittering dust fell from the sky.


End file.
